Hello, I am new and need some help.

[tokyochick91]

Hello

My name is tokyochick and I live here in beatiful San Diego.

Since I was a little girl, I rode a bike with my father. Now my father is 83 years old still riding a bike back in Japan.
I am old enough to have my own bike. I find good a school to learn how to ride a bike safly. I might be able to buy nice GZ 250 from somebody.

But my biggest problem is my husband. He has 100% disagreed that I should ride a bike.
The reasons are; 1. I am only 61 inches. He thinks I am too short. 2. I am not strong enough to push the bike. 3. It's dangerous.

If you have any ideas to convince my husband, let me know.

When I was a little girl, I saw the movie "Great Escape" and Steve MaQueen jumped over the fence. (The bike was not suzuki).
Since that day, I wanted to ride the Bike.

[Moedad]

Welcome Tokyochick91,

If you take the motorcycle safety course, you (and he) will find out if his fears about you being too small and weak have any basis. He could watch the class or even take it with you so he'd know. Maybe just focus on convincing him that taking the class would be good. Worry about a bike after that.

[davtnn]

I agree The Basic MSF course is possibly the best option. It will give you confidance and prove you can handle a bike .. besides its a lot of fun and you learn the right way to do things

[Littlethumper]

Welcome to the forum tokyochick!
You're not the only short female here,so am i. But i had a GZ250 from my bf before i get
done on my MSF course. Yes, we couldnt pick up the bike if it falls b'coz its too heavy, but we can ride it though! :lol:
I always been a passenger, even when my youngest brother had his first bike when he was 17yrs old when we we're in the Philippines.
I never drove a bike 'til i met my bf here. I use to ride with him as a passenger since he got his yamaha fjr until he got a new kawasaki
zx14 and using it for drag race and its not gonna be able to have passenger. So he bought me the GZ250 to ride. :tup:
Try to take MSF course and you'll learn as everyones saying here. :2tup:
And again, you're gonna have a lot of fun! :lol:

Drive safe....

[bigwonton]

Same suggestion as the others. Try a MSF course with your husband to see if both of you enjoy biking or not. I had a coworker who went through the course with her husband and she discovered that it wasn't quite what she expected out of it. But who knows, you may just get bitten by the bug.

[LilNinja77]

Yes, we couldnt pick up the bike if it falls b'coz its too heavy, but we can ride it though!

With the correct technique anyone can get a motorcycle back upright, including much heavier bikes than the GZ. I've seen 110 lb. women lift up 600lb + bikes. It's all about leverage.
Ride safe

[rayzuki]

my wife was completely against me getting a bike. It took me six months to convince her I was going to treat the bike with the respect it deserves and ride responsibly. She came around but it wasn't until the took the MSF course she felt at ease. After telling her what I learned and then showing her after I got my GZ she has been pretty supportive.

My suggestion is take the course.

[sambonz]

Hello Tokoyochick91

Few Ideas, 1. A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still. In other words your husband may never be convinced. His opinions may be related to the experiences he has had through out his life, or perhaps just what he has heard from others.....in any case he is expressing concern for you and that is a good thing.......

Absolutely! do take the motorcycle safty course before you buy a bike, many schools have bikes you can use, which is nice because it gives you the actual hands on (so to speak) and by the end of the course you should know the things mentioned by previous replies. i.e. if you can handle a bike, and if it is really what you want to do etc.

2. I lived in Japan for a short time, and while there I saw many Japanese that were quite small by American standards riding the heck out of bikes bigger than a GZ. So for the most part size doesn't matter. It's the gray matter between the ears that will quite literally make or break a motorcyclist.

3. While waiting for a ferry in Bellingham Washington, I spoted a beautiful Goldwing, GL-1800 drive up. I had to get a closer look, when I got close enough for conversation with the rider my interest in the bike waned. It was a woman that had flown from Anchorage Alaska to Las Vegas to buy her new Gold Wing....She was no ordinary rider, she was 84 years old with bad knees.....she got off the bike a little slow, but what a gal! She stated that she had a BMW and a Harley at home too, and had to try a Gold Wing....She was on her way back to Anchorage.

Good luck with you decision.
Ride safe

Sambonz

[patrick_777]

3. While waiting for a ferry in Bellingham Washington, I spoted a beautiful Goldwing, GL-1800 drive up. I had to get a closer look, when I got close enough for conversation with the rider my interest in the bike waned. It was a woman that had flown from Anchorage Alaska to Las Vegas to buy her new Gold Wing....She was no ordinary rider, she was 84 years old with bad knees.....she got off the bike a little slow, but what a gal! She stated that she had a BMW and a Harley at home too, and had to try a Gold Wing....She was on her way back to Anchorage.

Not to completely throw the thread off-target, but I met an 85 year old lady here pulling up at Walmart with her 90 year old husband riding on the back. She had been riding for 40+ years, and just got rid of an older Goldwing 1500 for something with better mileage and a bit lighter: A Honda Reflex 250cc scooter. For her age, she handled that thing like it was a bicycle. It was very impressive, and inspiring.

[Water Warrior 2]

Hello

My name is tokyochick and I live here in beatiful San Diego.

Since I was a little girl, I rode a bike with my father. Now my father is 83 years old still riding a bike back in Japan.
I am old enough to have my own bike. I find good a school to learn how to ride a bike safly. I might be able to buy nice GZ 250 from somebody.

But my biggest problem is my husband. He has 100% disagreed that I should ride a bike.
The reasons are; 1. I am only 61 inches. He thinks I am too short. 2. I am not strong enough to push the bike. 3. It's dangerous.

If you have any ideas to convince my husband, let me know.

When I was a little girl, I saw the movie "Great Escape" and Steve MaQueen jumped over the fence. (The bike was not suzuki).
Since that day, I wanted to ride the Bike.

First off, welcome to the forum. Secondly, my guess is your husband has never been a rider. If he was a rider at one time he probably didn't like it or got scared or hurt. By all means take the rider training in your area. This will help to give you confidence and knowledge to operate a bike. Show the diploma to hubby and be proud that you passed the training. Start looking at protective riding gear(boots, helmet, gloves, jacket and pants). Let hubby know you will not ride without the gear to protect you, after all mishaps do occur. You can't push him into acceptance but maybe you can lead him in the right direction. I don't know if it is his concern for your safety or maybe just a guy thing that a woman should not be a rider. Maybe a little of both.
A GZ will serve you well and be easy to ride. Also the best looking 250 on the street.

[Orpheus]

Hello

My name is tokyochick and I live here in beatiful San Diego.

Since I was a little girl, I rode a bike with my father. Now my father is 83 years old still riding a bike back in Japan.
I am old enough to have my own bike. I find good a school to learn how to ride a bike safly. I might be able to buy nice GZ 250 from somebody.

But my biggest problem is my husband. He has 100% disagreed that I should ride a bike.
The reasons are; 1. I am only 61 inches. He thinks I am too short. 2. I am not strong enough to push the bike. 3. It's dangerous.

If you have any ideas to convince my husband, let me know.

When I was a little girl, I saw the movie "Great Escape" and Steve MaQueen jumped over the fence. (The bike was not suzuki).
Since that day, I wanted to ride the Bike.

Riding a motorcycle is extremely dangerous and your husband is right to be concerned. If you are willing to accept the risks (after rationally assessing all the possibilities for injury/death), and you still want to ride, then it would probably be best if he also accepted that you understood and were comfortable with all the bad things that could possibly happen on a motorcycle.

I've been in three automobile accidents without injury and I consider myself a very safe driver; if any of those accidents were on my motorcycle, I'd probably have needed to go to the hospital or I'd be dead. It's all about how much risk you can accept.

(I read this in a report or online news article or something, but I can't find it now; maybe someone here linked to it?) The greatest risk for motorcycle accidents is not younger people, as would be expected, but rather the middle-aged men who pick up riding for the first time as some sort of midlife crisis thing. The following is just my opinion, but I'd imagine that many of the midlife crisis types who pick up riding think they're wise enough and responsible enough that they don't need any kind of class to teach them to ride; they then go out and buy the biggest bike they can find, since that makes them "more manly" and proceed to wreck and total their bikes or injure themselves because they had way more machine than they could handle.

You are a small girl and the GZ seems like it would be a perfect bike for you; the Honda Rebel is also a nice small bike (actually smaller than the GZ); if you're not planning on riding on highways, Kawasaki makes a 125cc "Eliminator" that seems pretty nice. Don't worry about not being able to push it or lift it up; these things only weigh around 300 pounds and if it fell over you'd not have to actually lift the entire weight. When I push mine, for backing out of parking spaces or whatever, it's a little harder than pushing a bicycle; it's really that light. Your argument to your husband for this could be that many scooters are larger than 250cc's and weigh about the same. It's actually funny how differently people perceive motorcycles compared to scooters, since most people somehow consider scooters "safer" even though they're very similar machines.

My first car was not a Ferrari, but a Volkswagen Cabriolet; my first bike is not a 1600cc Harley but rather a 250cc Suzuki. I learned to drive by taking driver's ed and practicing on roads without traffic; I learned to ride a motorcycle by taking the MSF course and practicing in parking lots and small side-streets.

Take the MSF course and get a small bike if you still think you'd like to ride. :tup:

Sorry this has been so long. :oops:

Carry on.

[mrlmd1]

Welcome to the club, and as others have said, by all means take the MSF course first before deciding on a bike.

Did anyone ever think to ask the hubby to take the class too? It might be something you could do together, and he might like it too.
Then you could get 2 GZ250's and ride together, or at least he'd understand what it's all about before saying no to the idea.

[philbert]

Hello tokyochick, welcome to the club!

As everyone has said, take the MSF course. Besides giving me first hand insight into the driving skills needed to ride on 2 wheels on the streets it gave me the opportunity to try 3 different bikes, a Honda Nighthawk, a Honda Rebel, and the Suzuki GZ250. The GZ250 was the best fit for me.
As for your small stature, don't be too concerned about it. There was a diminutive 18 year old girl in our class who was 60" tall and couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds soaking wet.

Motorcycle riding, like many other activities, is about risk management so ask your husband to attend the MSF with you or at least maybe he could visit while you ride the course lessons. After seeing what it's about and perhaps talking with the instructors he may overcome his misgivings.

Phil :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

Hello

My name is tokyochick and I live here in beatiful San Diego.

Since I was a little girl, I rode a bike with my father. Now my father is 83 years old still riding a bike back in Japan.
I am old enough to have my own bike. I find good a school to learn how to ride a bike safly. I might be able to buy nice GZ 250 from somebody.

But my biggest problem is my husband. He has 100% disagreed that I should ride a bike.
The reasons are; 1. I am only 61 inches. He thinks I am too short. 2. I am not strong enough to push the bike. 3. It's dangerous.

If you have any ideas to convince my husband, let me know.

When I was a little girl, I saw the movie "Great Escape" and Steve MaQueen jumped over the fence. (The bike was not suzuki).
Since that day, I wanted to ride the Bike.

Riding a motorcycle is extremely dangerous and your husband is right to be concerned. If you are willing to accept the risks (after rationally assessing all the possibilities for injury/death), and you still want to ride, then it would probably be best if he also accepted that you understood and were comfortable with all the bad things that could possibly happen on a motorcycle.

I've been in three automobile accidents without injury and I consider myself a very safe driver; if any of those accidents were on my motorcycle, I'd probably have needed to go to the hospital or I'd be dead. It's all about how much risk you can accept.

(I read this in a report or online news article or something, but I can't find it now; maybe someone here linked to it?) The greatest risk for motorcycle accidents is not younger people, as would be expected, but rather the middle-aged men who pick up riding for the first time as some sort of midlife crisis thing. The following is just my opinion, but I'd imagine that many of the midlife crisis types who pick up riding think they're wise enough and responsible enough that they don't need any kind of class to teach them to ride; they then go out and buy the biggest bike they can find, since that makes them "more manly" and proceed to wreck and total their bikes or injure themselves because they had way more machine than they could handle.

You are a small girl and the GZ seems like it would be a perfect bike for you; the Honda Rebel is also a nice small bike (actually smaller than the GZ); if you're not planning on riding on highways, Kawasaki makes a 125cc "Eliminator" that seems pretty nice. Don't worry about not being able to push it or lift it up; these things only weigh around 300 pounds and if it fell over you'd not have to actually lift the entire weight. When I push mine, for backing out of parking spaces or whatever, it's a little harder than pushing a bicycle; it's really that light. Your argument to your husband for this could be that many scooters are larger than 250cc's and weigh about the same. It's actually funny how differently people perceive motorcycles compared to scooters, since most people somehow consider scooters "safer" even though they're very similar machines.

My first car was not a Ferrari, but a Volkswagen Cabriolet; my first bike is not a 1600cc Harley but rather a 250cc Suzuki. I learned to drive by taking driver's ed and practicing on roads without traffic; I learned to ride a motorcycle by taking the MSF course and practicing in parking lots and small side-streets.

Take the MSF course and get a small bike if you still think you'd like to ride. :tup:

Sorry this has been so long. :oops:

Carry on.

Oh my, the midlife crisis thing. We have a few prime examples here. Haven't got the guts to admit they need training and can only relate to driving a cage. Must have lots of chrome and be really big to be cool. Sorry guys but you need an entry level bike and training. The image of Joe Cool riding the highways with his buds is pretty much shot down during a drivers exam on the road. Thankfully most get weeded out before they get some one hurt.

[Orpheus]

Hello

My name is tokyochick and I live here in beatiful San Diego.

Since I was a little girl, I rode a bike with my father. Now my father is 83 years old still riding a bike back in Japan.
I am old enough to have my own bike. I find good a school to learn how to ride a bike safly. I might be able to buy nice GZ 250 from somebody.

But my biggest problem is my husband. He has 100% disagreed that I should ride a bike.
The reasons are; 1. I am only 61 inches. He thinks I am too short. 2. I am not strong enough to push the bike. 3. It's dangerous.

If you have any ideas to convince my husband, let me know.

When I was a little girl, I saw the movie "Great Escape" and Steve MaQueen jumped over the fence. (The bike was not suzuki).
Since that day, I wanted to ride the Bike.

Riding a motorcycle is extremely dangerous and your husband is right to be concerned. If you are willing to accept the risks (after rationally assessing all the possibilities for injury/death), and you still want to ride, then it would probably be best if he also accepted that you understood and were comfortable with all the bad things that could possibly happen on a motorcycle.

I've been in three automobile accidents without injury and I consider myself a very safe driver; if any of those accidents were on my motorcycle, I'd probably have needed to go to the hospital or I'd be dead. It's all about how much risk you can accept.

(I read this in a report or online news article or something, but I can't find it now; maybe someone here linked to it?) The greatest risk for motorcycle accidents is not younger people, as would be expected, but rather the middle-aged men who pick up riding for the first time as some sort of midlife crisis thing. The following is just my opinion, but I'd imagine that many of the midlife crisis types who pick up riding think they're wise enough and responsible enough that they don't need any kind of class to teach them to ride; they then go out and buy the biggest bike they can find, since that makes them "more manly" and proceed to wreck and total their bikes or injure themselves because they had way more machine than they could handle.

You are a small girl and the GZ seems like it would be a perfect bike for you; the Honda Rebel is also a nice small bike (actually smaller than the GZ); if you're not planning on riding on highways, Kawasaki makes a 125cc "Eliminator" that seems pretty nice. Don't worry about not being able to push it or lift it up; these things only weigh around 300 pounds and if it fell over you'd not have to actually lift the entire weight. When I push mine, for backing out of parking spaces or whatever, it's a little harder than pushing a bicycle; it's really that light. Your argument to your husband for this could be that many scooters are larger than 250cc's and weigh about the same. It's actually funny how differently people perceive motorcycles compared to scooters, since most people somehow consider scooters "safer" even though they're very similar machines.

My first car was not a Ferrari, but a Volkswagen Cabriolet; my first bike is not a 1600cc Harley but rather a 250cc Suzuki. I learned to drive by taking driver's ed and practicing on roads without traffic; I learned to ride a motorcycle by taking the MSF course and practicing in parking lots and small side-streets.

Take the MSF course and get a small bike if you still think you'd like to ride. :tup:

Sorry this has been so long. :oops:

Carry on.

Oh my, the midlife crisis thing. We have a few prime examples here. Haven't got the guts to admit they need training and can only relate to driving a cage. Must have lots of chrome and be really big to be cool. Sorry guys but you need an entry level bike and training. The image of Joe Cool riding the highways with his buds is pretty much shot down during a drivers exam on the road. Thankfully most get weeded out before they get some one hurt.

Amen. My first experience on a motorcycle was an 80cc Kawasaki dirt bike (when I was about 8-10 years old) and I lasted about 3 seconds before I gave it too much gas and fell off; imagine what it would be like if you did the same thing with about 20x more power on public roads. Although I'm not crazy about the government enacting laws that treat the populace like children, I do believe that there should be many more precautions taken for both two-wheeled and four-wheeled traffic.